CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS
This chapter will discuss the result of the study on the practice of Chinese New Year celebration in Semarang. It will discuss two different things: how the Chinese in Semarang celebrate Chinese New Year and the reasons to celebrate Chinese New Year. The writer obtained the main data from the first two interviewees as they know a lot about how Semarang Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year. Then, the writer also interviewed nine other Semarang Chinese people who still keep the tradition in celebrating Chinese New Year.
Based on the data obtained through the interview, the writer makes a summary, which is presented in the following table:
No Activity Time Participants Remark
1 Clean the temple or monastery (especially Buddhist or Confucius)
Before Chinese New Year
2, 3 Clean heart, good heart, vegetarian or jia cay
2 Clean the house Before Chinese New Year
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ,8,9,10,11
It must be cleaned
market semawis which is held yearly for 3 days before the
celebration of Chinese New Year before Chinese New Year 2,3,7,8,9,10, 11
3 Hold ancestral prayer In the afternoon with a table full of various foods as a symbol of their honor to the ancestors. A day before Chinese New Year 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ,8,9,10,11
Kinds of food, the importance food sam sing (3 kinds of animals): Sausage (1,2) meaning: prosperous Shell (3,5)
4 Gather with the big family and have a meal out or at home
A day before Chinese New Year (in the afternoon) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ,8,9,10,11
To strengthen the brotherhood relationship
5 Celebrate Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ,8,9,10,11
6 Hold the Lord's worship or often known as king di kong.
The ninth day after Chinese New Year
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ,8,9,10,11
With some offer foods for the god
7 Close the Chinese New Year by having lontong cap go meh
The fifteenth day
1 to 11 Closing of Chinese New Year and give fruits for pray Cap go meh
Table 2 Summary of Findings
The table above shows that there are seven activities done by Semarang Chinese people to celebrate Chinese New Year. The celebration has been started a couple of days before the first day of the lunar year and will finish on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The writer discusses every activity in detail in the following paragraphs.
4.1. Cleaning
Cleaning the temple or monastery and/or one own’s house is
4.1.1. Cleaning the Temple and Monastery
This activity is done mostly by Chinese people who are Buddhist or those who believe in Confucius. The first interviewee explained that this activity is done because after the temple is used for a year, it is very dirty with ash of incense (hio) which is burnt when people pray there. During the year, the temple is not cleaned as people still use it for praying.
With regards to this cleaning activity, there is an interesting story told by the second interviewee. According to him, on the twenty fourth day of the twelfth month of lunar year or six days before the Chinese New Year, the Gods go to heaven to give a report on what people have done during the year:
Itu kita pada tanggal 24 di bulan 12 penanggalan lunar sebelum imlek, sebelum tahun baru imlek itu kita ada tradisi mengantarkan
dewa naik. Dimana di dalam kepercayaan konghucu atau buddha e.. para dewa itu naik ke khayangan pada tanggal 24 di bulan terakhir tersebut. Dimana para dewa bisa dibilang melaporkan
perbuatan dan seluruh kejadian yang ada di dunia kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Kuasa.
After all of the Gods go to heaven, people are allowed to clean all of the God statues and clean the temples. At the same time, they clean the room or places, they worship the ornaments in the pagoda or monastery. So, the process of temple cleaning basically starts after the tradition of the Gods’ ascension. The process above informs that in order to be ready for the New Year people need to be clean because if people are still dirty, they will not have good fortune.
A little different explanation was given by interviewee 3 who does
the temple cleaning. The third interviewee said that, “Bukan, itu salah.
Dewa dapur sebulan 2x naik ke atas. Setiap kali perbuatan buruk kita
diberi kesempatan untuk bertobat. [No, it is wrong. The kitchen god goes to heaven twice a month. We are given the opportunity to repent every bad deed. (Interviewee 3, interviewed on December 3, 2017).
This interviewee claimed that the only God who goes to heaven before the Chinese New Year is the Kitchen God. The God goes to heaven twice a month, giving a report to God the Almighty on the human beings’ deeds. Interviewee 3 further explained that everytime people make a small mistake, they are given three days to regret and for big mistakes, people are given 100 days to repent. If on the 23rd of the last month, people still do not repent, they will be reported to Giok Te.
by giving them bonuses so that the worker, like their employer, can celebrate Chinese New Year.
Then, interviewee 2 gave further explanation that on the 24th of the 12th month of the lunar calendar before the Chinese New Year, the Chinese people have a tradition of ushering the ascension of the gods. According to Buddha and Confucius beliefs, the Gods go up to heaven on the 24th of the 12th month. He said that the Gods report the human beings’ deeds and all the events that exist in the world to God Almighty. As the Gods leave, people are allowed to clean the statues of the Gods. At the same time, they clean the room or places of worship and ornaments in temple or monastery.
Further, Interviewee 2 said that there is a provision when they want to clean the statues. People who want to clean the statues and the temple have to have a good heart. The sincere heart will make the place of worship clean and neat again after being used for a year. Then, he added that it is better if the people who clean the temple are vegetarians, however, if they are not, the important thing is, once again, they have sincere intention and good heart, so that they deserve to carry out this clean-up event.
For this section, the writer only include from the second and third interviewee because the other interviewees are not providing enough information about cleaning the temple and they said that they are not cleaning the temple. Both of interviewee above explain that they clean the table (altar), statue and it is for religious people especially for Konghucu and Buddhist.
There are 2 out of 11 interviewees as respondents of this research. Interviewee 2 and 3 do this activity. Both of the interviewee explain that a jia cay (vegetarian) are better as cleaners of the statue, table (altar) and all of the things that it used in praying. The cleaning of the temple is usually done on the 23rd - 30th of December before New Year Celebration.
4.1.2. Cleaning the Houses
After finishing the temple and monastery cleaning, people continue with house cleaning. According Interviewee 3 this activity must be done on the 23rd to 29th or 30th before Chinese New Year day and end before the Chinese New Year day. The interviewee stated that,
Bersih-bersih rumah ini bukan membuang rejeki. 24-29 imlek tergantung peredaran bulannya. Di hari itu … hari bebas jadi
mereka dapat bersih rumah, bersih kleneng, renovasi 23-29 atau 30. Yang paling penting pada saat hari imleknya tidak boleh bersih- bersih.
[Cleaning the house is not sweeping luck away. (It is done) on 24th to 29th imlek depends on the revolution of the moon. On that day
(…) to renovate (… the days are) 23rd
-29th or 30th. What is most important, during the Chinese New Year, we cannot clean the house] (Interviewee 3, interviewed on December 3rd, 2017).
The process above informs that cleaning should be done before Chinese New Year because it has a deep meaning and story. People should sweep the dirt and dust in the room and prepare Chinese New Year celebration. They are not allowed to clean their houses on the Chinese New Year day because when they sweep the dirt on the Chinese New Year day, they can lose their fortune for the whole year. The third interviewee’s statement is supported by the second interviewee,
… pada hari imlek yang bersangkutan kita tidak boleh
membersihkan rumah … Sudah menjadi mitos dan kepercayaan
karna apabila kita menyapu atau membuang kotoran itu berarti
sama saja membuang rejeki.
[… on the Chinese New Year day we must not clean the house …
it is a myth and a belief that sweeping or throwing away the dirt means throwing away their fortune.] (Interviewee 2, February 4th,2017)
Furthermore, he added a legend behind this practice. Once there was a maid named Ru Yan. Her boss was too cruel to her and forcing her to work until the night of Chinese New Year. On the New Year eve, the boss was very rough on, so Ru Yan became angry. eve Other thing the boss did was throwing away the trash on the day of the Chinese New Year because there was an insect going into the trash bin. After the New Year, his fortune declined. Eventually he realized that the one who gave him the fortune was Ru Yan, the maid. Ru Yan was the goddess of fortune in his family. He shouted to Ru Yan repeatedly, but she did not come. The story becomes the origin of the belief that people should not clean their house on the Lunar New Year. The story also tells people to remember that they should also respect a maid.
Besides cleaning the house, according to Interviewee 1, people also decorate their houses with Chinese ornaments like red lampions and the zodiac animal of Chinese years. For example, the Chinese year of 2017 is being Chicken with the fire element, so in the Chinese New Year of 2017, he bought that chicken ornament to decorate his house.
The second interviewee explained that the ornaments, such as candles, are red, “… untuk di kalangan orang Tionghoa terutama sembahyang klenteng atau vihara itu yang dipakai biasanya warna merah tersebut menggambarkan keberanian, hogi.” [for the Chinese, to pray in
red colored candles mean dynamic. Now people use electric candles, but in the past they used oil lamp. Based on the interview with the Interviewee 3, red color is taken from the color of five elements that Chinese people believe. In Chinese culture there are five basic elements; they are metal (white), water (black), wood (blue/green), fire (red) and land (yellow).
Then, he added that they also put red lanterns with the writing of “fu 福”
(hogi) which means luck.
All the interviewee always cleans the house. But the interviewee 2,4,7,11 also explain that they should tidy up all, repaint, clean the windows, fixing the broken thing, throw the thing unused, sweep the floor.
4.2. Visiting Pasar Semawis
This is an additional tradition that Semarang people have in the last few years. People can go to Pasar Semawis and enjoy shopping all of the various ornaments found for the Chinese New Year celebration. They can also watch Wayang Potehi, Barongsai dance, Cheng Ge of characters like Sun Wu Kong, Kwam Im goddess.
Figure 4.2 Sweet and traditional snacks sold at Semawis
(bottom left) and kue mangkok and bakpao (bottom right). This photo was taken on January 24th 2017. Interviewee 4 ,5, 6 don’t always go to there. The other interviewee (1-3, 7-11) go there and interviewee 1 is one of the committee who held semawis market.
4.3. Holding Ancestral prayer
One day before the Chinese New Year, people who celebrate Chinese New Year will hold ancestral prayer. Interviewee 2 explained that the prayer is held at around twelve to three pm as they have to wait for the members of the family to come to pray in the house. Usually the house where the ancestral prayer is held is the old house or the house of the parents who have passed away. This ancestral worship has a deep meaning because in the Chinese tradition they hold this prayer as a form of their respect to their ancestors, to the great-grandparents, to their grandparents, and to their parents who have passed away, “… ini sebagai bentuk simbolis penghormatan kita dimana dulu kita masih kecil dirawat
oleh mereka sekarang kita berbalas memberikan penghormatan meskipun mereka sudah tidak ada. [… this is a symbol of respect from us because when we were little, we were taken cared by them.] (Interviewee 2, interviewed on February 4th, 2017). For the ancestral prayer, the Chinese arranges varieties of food on an altar table or an ordinary table. The food is usually customary dishes like bamboo shoots, pork, chicken meat, and fruit. The food is the offering to those who have passed away.
bananas. One important fruit that must be offered is watermelon as it is believed that when people die, they have to bring watermelon to be given to the afterlife king.
Di dalam agama konghucu atau agama budha di akhirat atau di dunia orang yang sudah meninggal itu buah semangka ini semacam
menjadi bekal untuk melapor kepada raja akhirat, semacam itu yang masyarakat percaya mitosnya.
[In Kong Hu Chu or Buddha religion, in the afterlife, watermelon is a provision to report to the afterlife king.] (Interviewee 3, interviewed on February 4th, 2017)
Other kind of fruit can be offered without any special meaning. These kinds of fruit are just fruits that the ancestors usually eat with the family. It is a symbol of togetherness between the ancestors and their family.
Interviewee 2 also said that there is no rule about the number of fruits that they have to put on the table. It depends on the economic conditions of the family.
… tidak ada aturan yang baku. Hanya saja kita melihat tentunya dari
kemampuan ekonomi masyarakat masing- masingnya. Klau orang
yang mampu biasanya menyediakan beberapa macam ntah 5 macam atau 6 macam tetapi ada yang cukup secara sederhana menyediakan 2 macam atau 3 macam saja.
[… there is no general rule. But of course, it depends on the financial
or six kinds of fruits. But they can simply provide two or three kinds] (Interviewee 3, interviewed on February 4th, 2017)
Thus, it is not a must to provide six to seven kinds of food because providing just two or three kinds of fruit is enough. However, the number of each kind of fruit should be even, for example two oranges and two apples.
Besides fruit, they also provide some kinds of snacks and cakes like moho cake (kue moho), sticky rice cake (kue keranjang) and ku cake (kue ku ). The snacks and cakes are the ordinary ones that the ancestors usually eat with the family. Red moho cake must be provided as it symbolizes hopes. The shape of the moho is like a blooming flower so that hopefully all the prayers can also grow like flowers. Another cake that must be available is sticky rice cake which symbolizes the unity in the family. It is hoped that the family will be bound tightly like the cake. Besides, as the food is sweet, it is expected that the family lives will be sweet too. The other one is ku cake. Ku cake is a cake made of rice flour, wrapped in convex oval shape, containing green bean flour. The color of Ku cake is usually red. It has a banana leaf as its base. There is no rule on
how many cakes that must be arranged on the table. Like the fruit, it depends on the economic condition of the family.
dishes which similar to sam sing consists of dishes made of animals who live on land, in the sea, and in the air. The dishes with fish is called nian nian you yi. Yi means abundance so it is hoped that they will get abundant
of luck. The dishes with pork is sam can which is made of pork with three layers, fat-pork-fat, so that it is hoped that their wealth will also come in layers. In addition, there are some dishes that are identic with ancestral worshiping. They are opor, sausage, sambel goreng, tahu pong, ca rebung. Opor is chicken (or duck or others) curry with thick coconut milk, usually
white or yellowish, cooked with spices. It symbolizes the hope of a prosperous livelihood (Peony, 2011). Sausage is minced meat packaged in a membrane so that the shape of a long cylinder. According to the first and second interviewees, sausage must be served as it symbolizes prosperity. Sambal goreng is the brewed eggs that are peeled and then cooked with
chicken’s liver and Gizzards, chili, and shrimp. Tahu pong is a kind of
tofu. Bamboo shoot is one of the dishes that is always available because in
Mandarin, bamboo shoot is called Zhúsǔn (竹笋) that it is spelled like a
word means the whole family’s abundant fortune.
coins. If two heads or two tails appears after being thrown, it means that the ancestors have not finished yet. But if one head and a tail come up, it means that the ancestors agree to close the offerings. Usually they will
close the prayer around three o’ clock after all the family members come
and pray to the ancestors.
The Chinese will close the prayer by burning paper money or kim cua which symbolizes money for the ancestors. They believe that in the afterlife, the dead people live in a society like what they were on earth, So the descendants burn the paper money as a way of sending money to
support their ancestor’s lives. The values of the money are millions or
billions depends on the descendants’ economic condition.
The Chinese uses red paper to ask permission to the god of the land to invite their ancestors. Therefore, before they send to their ancestors the money, they also offer money to the god of land as a form of gratitude to him for allowing the Chinese to hold the celebration for the ancestors. After that they have to burn silver and gold money and also they send permission letter to burn together. They will send a little food and tea that is poured around the burning money as the supply to the ancestors who go back.
symbol of the nature of life and death incidents which become the symbol of those who have crossed. In addition, permission letter or wang seng prayer paper and travel paper are delivered to the spirits as a payment to the next destination.
Figure 4.3 Permission letter (left) and silver and gold money (right).
Figure 4.5 The arrangement of offerings on the altar
Figure 4.5 is the arrangement of offerings on the altar during the
ancestor’s prayer according to interviewee 3. It consists of incenses (dupa/
hio), flower, water, fruit, candle/ oil lamp. It is called wu gong or five dedications. They can add cake or snack next to the fruit, depending on their financial condition.
Figure 4.6 Sample picture of praying to the ancestors.
mean that power and fight. Now people use electric candles, but in the past they used oil lamp. Based on the interview with the Interviewee 3, red color is taken from the color of five elements that Chinese people believe. In Chinese culture there are five basic elements; they are metal (white), water (black), wood (blue/green), fire (red) and land (yellow). Then, he
added that they also put red lanterns with the writing of “fu 福” (hogi)
which means luck.
Eight interviwees as respondents out of eleven said that chicken, pork and fish (samsing). But the first interviewee said that sausage and shells should be offered. Also add kinds of snacks and cakes like moho cake (kue moho), sticky rice cake (kue keranjang) and ku cake (kue ku )
4.4. Gathering and Having Dinner
On the New Year eve, the night before Chinese New Year, there is a gathering and a dinner. The first interviewee said that the angpao (money in the red envelope) will be given by the elder to children, nieces, and nephews who are unemployed. In turn, the children, the nieces and the nephews will give respect by doing bai, the left hand is put above the right hand. The hand is clenched and moves back, forth to the respected person, and also bowing the body. The left one symbolizes yin and the right one symbolizes yang. The bai is done by lifting the clenched hand as high as the nose.
meaning. It is a symbol of harmony and equality. If they do not have a round table they can use a square table. The most important thing is that the table should face the door. Usually the eldest sits in the middle facing the left side of the door, beside him sits the second oldest, the third oldest and so on.
All of my interviewee gather together and have dinner in the night before the day. Gathering with family is important to strengthen the brotherhood relationship.
4.5. Celebrating Chinese New Year
All interviewees begin the celebration of Chinese New Year by holding ancestral prayer in the afternoon before the Chinese New Year with a table full of various foods as a symbol of their honor to the ancestors. Then, on the first day to the fifteenth day of the first month, they should wear red color and do bai jia (visit other’s home). On the first day,
it is time for children to visit the father’s family. On the second day, the
children visit the mother’s family. On the third day, it is time to visit
friends or other relatives. On the fourth and fifth day, they can start to work again. The next day they can do anything, but on eighth day (a week after the Chinese New Year), it is time to hold the Lord's Worship.
The third explained that in the Chinese New Year tradition, an
employee should say “Gong Xi Fa Cai” to the employer. Then, the
parents. The purpose of saying Gong Xi Fa Cai to the parent is that they
hope their parent’s business can be successful. They can also say shen ti
jiang kang which contains a hope that they will always be healthy. People
should say xin nian guai le, wan shi ru yi to their friends which means
“every year fortune and desire can be achieved”. Meanwhile, angpao
(money in the red envelope) is a generic word for happy moment such as wedding, birthday.
Interviewee 1 said that the angpao (money in the red envelope) will be given by the elder to children, nieces, and nephews who are unemployed. In turn, the children, the nieces and the nephews will give respect by doing bai, the left hand is put above the right hand. The hand is clenched and moves back, forth to the respected person, and also bowing the body. The left one symbolizes yin and the right one symbolizes yang. The bai is done by lifting the clenched hand as high as the nose.
Interviewee 2, 3, 4 on the first day at home and interviewee 1 do not explain about it. All of the interviewee uses red colour. Interviewee 1-11 say that red is a meaning for happiness, fortune, and being lucky.
4.6. Holding the Lord's Worship (King Thi Kong)
This is done on the eighth day of the first lunar month or after celebrating Chinese New Year. According to Interviewee 1, the Lord’s worship must be done in the middle of the night at 00:00 on the 8th day (a week after the Chinese New Year) and it is practiced by Hokian tribe only.
When praying to Thi Kong (God), the number of Hio is one or three. They have to offer twelve kinds of fruit for worshiping God. The fruits are srikaya (Fān lìzhī) grapefruit, oranges, apples and others.
Srikaya 番荔枝 or Fān lìzhī is a must as it is the symbol of richness.
Oranges are the symbol of a lot of lucks. Those fruits have many seeds. Pineapples can also be served as they are believed to bring luck as it is pronounced as hogi (luck) in Mandarin. There are also candles to worship Lord.
Figure 4.9 The arrangement of accessories made of sugar cane in front of a temple during the Lord's Worship (King Thi Kong)
4.7. Closing the Chinese New Year Celebration
Chinese New Year celebration will end on the fifteenth day after the Chinese New Year. This celebration is called as Cap Go Meh which literally means the 15th day of the first month of the year. This celebration is identical with Lontong opor. Lontong is a dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf. The rice rolled inside banana leaf and boiled, then cut into small pieces. This lontong is served with opor ayam, a dish consisting of chicken cooked in coconut milk and some ingredients.
to find a partner. In Indonesian language, this tradition is called liat-liatan (seeing each other), where a man was citing rhymes in temple. Other than that, Cap Go Meh was also the time to undo the matchmaking. Arranged marriage could also be canceled during the event of Cap Go Meh. In the old days Cap Go Meh was closed with a parade of a god named Cheng Ge around town. Then on day 19, the employees must get ready to go back to work. These traditions do not exist anymore in this present time.
After that Interviewee 2 also said that Cap Go Meh is associated with happiness. Interviewee 2’s information is approved by interviewee 3 who said that,”... Cap Go Meh ini identik dengan sukacita, identik dengan gembira. Jadi biasanya kota-kota diadakan arak- arakan atau kirab memikul tae pek kong atau memikul dewa, hiburan, barongsai, atau kumpul bersama. Hal in juga identik dengan lontong opor” [… Cap Go
Meh is identical with cheerfulness, identical with happiness. So people in the city usually organize a parade by carrying Tae Pek Kong or the gods around, arrange entertainments, barongsai, or get together. Cap Go Meh is also identical with lontong opor (Interviewee 3, interviewed on February 4, 2017). So, the closing event of Chinese New Year, Cap Go Meh is the celebration of happiness for Chinese community.
